Anyone can have alopecia areata. Men and women get it equally, and it affects all racial and ethnic groups. The onset can be at any age, but most people get it in their teens, twenties, or thirties. When it occurs in children younger than age 10, it tends to be more extensive and progressive.
You can get alopecia areata at any age; however, most people develop it by 30 years of age. For many, the disease begins during childhood or the teenage years.
Alopecia areata (AA) is a common, non-scarring, autoimmune hair-loss disorder with a complex genetic and environmental etiology. A higher incidence rate of AA in the female population is well described.
Hair loss, also called alopecia, is a disorder caused by an interruption in the body's cycle of hair production. Hair loss can occur anywhere on the body, but most commonly affects the scalp.
Hair loss (alopecia) can affect just your scalp or your entire body, and it can be temporary or permanent. It can be the result of heredity, hormonal changes, medical conditions or a normal part of aging. Anyone can lose hair on their head, but it's more common in men.
This type of baldness is not usually caused by a disease. It is related to aging, heredity, and changes in the hormone testosterone. Inherited, or pattern baldness, affects many more men than women. Male pattern baldness can occur at any time after puberty.
A variety of factors are thought to cause alopecia areata (al-o-PEE-she-uh ar-e-A-tuh), possibly including severe stress. With alopecia areata, the body's immune system attacks the hair follicles — causing hair loss.
A few people who develop alopecia areata will progress to total scalp baldness (alopecia totalis). Even fewer people will lose all scalp and body hair (alopecia universalis).
The first sign of alopecia areata is often a round or oval bald patch on the scalp.
Most people know alopecia to be a form of hair loss. However, what they don't always know is that there are three main types of the condition – alopecia areata, alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis.
One popular myth is that hair loss in men is passed down from the mother's side of the family while hair loss in women is passed down from the father's side; however, the truth is that the genes for hair loss and hair loss itself are actually passed down from both sides of the family.
Is alopecia areata hereditary? Yes, heredity plays a role. Alopecia areata is a “polygenic disease” which requires the contribution of many genes to bring about the disease, as well as a contribution from the environment.
1) Yes, alopecia areata can pass from parents to children - but it is not common. About 6 % of your son's children would be predicated to have alopecia areata and 94 % would not. In other words, it' s possible for your son to have a child with alopecia areata but most likely he will not.
“There are some that still consider it a cosmetic problem. It's not.” It's this stigma, along with the fact that alopecia doesn't actually shorten a patient's life span, that's kept it low on the list of priority diseases for research.
What is alopecia? Alopecia is a general term for hair loss and represents many different types of hair loss conditions. Generally we categorize alopecia as non-scarring, which may be reversible/temporary, and scarring, which is irreversible, although the cause can be addressed to stop further hair loss.
Female-pattern baldness is a pattern of hair loss (alopecia) caused by hormones, aging and genetics. Unlike male-pattern baldness, female-pattern baldness is an over-all thinning which maintains the normal hairline.
The extent of alopecia (how much hair has fallen out) varies and links to the different subtypes. Some said their hair loss involved one small patch about the size of a 1p coin which regrew after a few weeks or months. Others developed more patches which sometimes joined up into bigger bald areas over time.
In alopecia areata, the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the hair follicles for reasons that are not clear. Fortunately, the follicles retain their ability to regrow hair, and the hair loss is not permanent in most cases.
Avoiding unnecessary hair or scalp trauma, reducing stress and analyzing your diet are all worthwhile endeavors when attempting to prevent alopecia areata from spreading.
Causes of Alopecia Areata
In alopecia areata, the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, causing inflammation. Researchers do not fully understand what causes the immune attack on hair follicles, but they believe that both genetic and environmental (non-genetic) factors play a role.
Compared with the general population, increased prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders are associated with alopecia (Koo et al., 1994) suggesting that people with alopecia may be at higher risk for development of a major depressive episode, anxiety disorder, social phobia or paranoid disorder.
In short, while emotional pain doesn't cause alopecia; it is clear there are links to how our bodies respond. If you are experiencing these thoughts or any others related to coping with alopecia areata, know that how you feel about your condition is valid.
Alopecia areata is sometimes triggered by viral infections such as influenza that causes excess production of interferons (IFN). IFN- γ is one of the key factors that lead to the collapse of immune privilege.